The Gift Of Life
by axrinekey
Summary: Carlisle/OC. He was a vampire, she was a street rat. When he sensed the unusual aroma from her blood, he lost his self-control ability and bit her. Was it fate and destiny? Or was it just a sense of greed? Set at 18th century, London.


**Disclaimer:I do not own/associate with Twilight/New Moon/Eclipse/Breaking Dawn/etc/Stephanie Meyers nor any of the fictional characters. This is merely just a fanfiction.**

**- Chapter One -**

**Transformation**

It was 1802, winter. There was a small cottage in an insignificant town in Richmond, Surrey of England. Dim light was fading out from the cottage even though it was late midnight. An ancient oil lamp was still burning on a wooden table. The room was filled with warmth released from the lamp even though it was very small and negligible in size. A man was sitting beside of the table, borrowing the faint light of the lamp to read a book titled "Great Surgery". It had been days or almost a week he had gone out for hunting. He had a strong faith on himself that he could control his own thirst, his own hunger. It was challenging but he managed to keep himself reading despite the winter season and the hunger he was going through. The week after this he had to sit for an examination to obtain his doctor license. This was his 10th examination. Usually he could get the license from his vampire friends, but it was not easy to find vampires who worked for the government. He had to change his license every 2 decades because of his inability to age. He could only lie his age up to his 50s because his physical age was only 23. As time went by, he would use cosmetics to cover up his young appearance with wrinkles until he decided to move to another state or another borough, where no one had heard of or seen him.

He had lived his life alone (though he did have vampire companions sometimes, but he found their lifestyles being too brutal and inhumane) since the attack of a vampire 2 centuries ago, whose venom left unclean in his vein. He suffered greatly and the pain sustained for 3 days before the transformation. He drove himself to starving because he did not want to kill humans to live. At times he did try to commit suicide but the attempts failed. Nevertheless, he could not resist the nature of a vampire – blood sucking creature. Out of desperation, finally, he went for his first hunting for food. He travelled along the woods, with his weak and feeble feet due to lack of blood consumption. He sensed a scent, a scent that worth hunting for. He followed the scent unobtrusively, tip-toed, he did whatever he could to prevent from alarming the creature he was hunting for. Soon, he observed an animate dark figure. From the look of the shape, he knew undoubtedly that it was a deer. He leapt over the deer and sent a bite to the deer with his newly formed strong and sharp teeth. It was the first blood he tasted ever since he was changed. It did not taste as scrumptious as human food, but the moment he started sucking its blood, he could not stop until the blood was fully drained from the deer's body. After he was done with his so-called first meal, he sat there quietly, like a man who wanted a rest after finishing a heavy meal and causing him to be bloated. Since then, he knew vampires could survive with animal blood, the only weakness of it was that vampires might not be able to utilise fully their unique abilities because animal blood was not as rich in nutrient as human blood. He referred such act of himself as "vegetarian vampire".

He finally stood up from the wooden chair, he closed the thick book he was reading. He lost focus all of the sudden and needed to get some fresh air to clear his mind. He took his black coat and his black top hat, wore them nicely and neatly. He continued to shape his cravat. Then, he walked to the empty, soundless town. Although the weather may be cold and windy, for a vampire, every day was the same. He would not feel peculiarly cold or warm due to the climate change. As he was strolling down the town, he sensed warmth. It was a sweet scent, a scent he had not smelled before, a scent that chilled him up and yet thrilled him. He followed the scent slowly. He felt that his heartbeat was racing; he thought he felt his heartbeat but he knew it was just an illusion, a misconception. How could he have felt his own heartbeat?

The closer he got to the source of the warmth and sweet scent, the vibrant he got. He did not understand the reason behind until he found out what he was chasing over – blood. He had never been so enticed to blood. Probably it was the cause of the need of blood and the hunger he was suffering, he thought. It could be an illusion, an imagination due to the starvation. How could there be a living thing ambling around at this hour and in this cold weather? No human could bear such circumstances. But then again, the scent was genuine. He couldn't be wrong. So, he followed the scent.

There, he finally saw, a vague figure nearby a coffee shop, the place where the residents of the town would debate about everything (hence it was a good place to receive news). He accelerated his pace towards the object. It was a ragged brown cloth surrounding something the warm object. _A dog? Impossible, dogs don't have such scent._ But as he unveiled the object, as he was about to open his mouth and slam his teeth towards the object, he saw something that flummoxed him. It was very much alive. It was a young lady, and her body was covered with blood. The blood was dried, she must have been wounded for quite some time or the cold weather had dried the blood up.

He could no longer resist the temptation, the lust. Although he was gifted with the ability of self-controlling, he could not control himself this time. His glare shot directly to her neck, which was the barest place of all. His lips opened automatically, as though it was an involuntary act. He could not feel his own muscle. His body just fell mechanically onto her neck. His sharp teeth gently penetrated into her bare skin and blood starting flowing out little by little. She moaned softly, as though she felt pain, but she was still unconscious.

He drained the blood from her neck irrepressibly. The blood tasted sweet and aromatic. There were no words to describe how mouth-watering her blood was. He would, if compared to human food, consider her blood as more appetising. Within minutes, he sensed that the volume of blood had reduced to half of its original.

_Carlisle… Carlisle… STOP!_

He roared in his heart. He regained his senses. He looked at the fragile human in his embrace. Feeling awfully guilty, he quickly carried the young lady back to his cottage. The young lady started to feel an intense pain occurring in her body. She was burning inside and outside. He knew very well that his venom had injected into her body and it was circulating in her bloodstream. It was the time to determine whether or not to change her. He hesitated. He was lonely and was in need of an acquaintance. This would be a selfish and greedy decision. Nonetheless, he believed that it was fate that brought them together, and that fate had prevented him from controlling himself, and thus he would follow fate. This could be the girl's destiny.

Meanwhile, the young lady curled herself in the embrace of Carlisle. It was as though a thousand suns burning her body, fire surrounding her skin, devouring her skin little by little. On the other hand, another burning flame was engulfing her haslets inside. She moaned louder and harder every time she felt a sudden rush of searing blood in her veins. Her heartbeat was pumping slowly, but full of energy. Each time it pumped, the more agony she suffered. Every pump was analogous to a stab. She grabbed onto his cravat tightly, causing it to tear apart. She had no idea why she was in such anguish condition. Could it be an illness? Or heart disease? She could not bear the pain anymore and give no thoughts of what she was going through.

As he reached his little cottage, he placed her body onto a small red two-sitter couch while she continued to fight against the pain in her. It had been centuries he had heard such shriek. The last one he heard of was himself. He understood very well the pain she was experiencing. He would call it the last warmth of his life before turning into a newly born creature. After this painful journey, he had never felt warmth or hotness in him.

"Don't worry, just a few more days, the pain will die out," he whispered to the young lady, who did not seem to attend. "I know it's difficult, but try to endure the pain. It will be the last burning sensation you'll ever experience."

She had been moaning for almost 48 hours. Her voice had gotten rather husky and dry. Carlisle was there by her side all the time, holding her arm and trying to comfort her. There was nothing else he could do but to be by her side and to tell her she will be fine. Carlisle observed the revolution made physically on her. He remembered clearly that the first day he met this young lady, she had messy, dry maroon and long hair. Her hair colour was lightened and became as smooth as silk. Her skin was paler and chalkier, though her cheeks were cherry pink. Her lips were ruby red.

It was the 3rd day of the transformation.

She opened her eyes as the pain drifted away. She stretched her body from curling and sat upright. Her head was a little aching, a little similar to a hangover. Her throat was exceptionally dehydrated. She had no memory of what happened few days back. She started panicking when she realised she was at somewhere unfamiliar. She stood up quickly but she felt anaemic. Her body was frail. She fell back to the couch. She was feeling bizarrely thirsty. She went to look for water in the cottage but there was none. She walked towards the door while waggling as though she was drunk. She opened the door and walked out of the cottage. She grabbed on the snow and placed them into her mouth. A few minutes later, she found herself suffering nausea, and then she coughed out everything that was in her stomach – water.

She sat on the doorstep, still feeling biliousness. Her stomach was not well, her throat was still dry. She looked up to the sky and stared into the clouds. It must have been the brightest day of winter. She saw sunlight shining onto the ground. She realised something was shimmering. She looked around to find the source of the sparkles. She stared directly onto her palms; they were glistening, like diamonds. She lifted up her sleeves and continued to stare at her arms; her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. Her skin was glowing and sparkling. She gasped and quickly ran back into the cottage. As she was under the cottage, her arms weren't sparkling anymore, instead they were pale and smooth, like marble. She continued to dig for a mirror in the cottage. She needed to see what she had turned out to become. She found an old and wretched hand mirror. She continued to wave the mirror backwards and forwards, side to side. She was terrified with her own reflection. Her skin, even though pale, but was tougher and stiffer than usual. Her hair was flaming red in colour, her eyes were glowing blood red, and she looked slightly pale though the rosy pink cheeks saved her from looking ill. There was something about her teeth which she found unusual of.

She dropped the mirror instantly as she saw her own reflection. _Criiang!_ The mirror fell onto her feet and broke, cutting her feet slightly and it started bleeding.

"What have I become?" she asked herself. "I must have suffered some kind of incurable disease!"

Something caught her eyes from the table – the thick book titled "Great Surgeon". She carried the book and flipped a few pages of the book. She scanned through the texts.

_A book! The one who saved me must be intellectual! He must have known my illness!_

The door was opened very swiftly and a man came in rushing.

"Are you alright? Are you injured? I heard a thunderous shattering sound and a sense of blood!" the man held her by her shoulder anxiously, examining her from the tip of her head to the bottom of her feet. "Your feet!"

"Am I suffering from an incurable disease? That's why I'm looking like this? Am I going to die?" she asked him all at once, with a tone full of sorrow.

"No, of course not! You're not dying!" he walked a few steps away and took a bag, which looked like a medicine bag. He opened the bag and took something out. He carefully rinsed the wound with some kind of medicine and bandaged it.

"If I'm not dying, then I must be dead?" She looked around. "This place does seem like heaven to me."

He giggled and almost let out a laugh.

"What? Did I say something off the beam?"

"The thought of _us_ living in heaven tickles me," he coughed. "Anyway, it's done."

"If I weren't dead or living in heaven, then why do I feel like this? My throat is unusually parched. As I consumed snow, my body just felt queasiness and water was coughed out. My skin glows and shimmers when I'm exposed to the sunlight; my eyes are bloody red in colour; my hair colour changed… There's something wrong with me."

"That's how it should be. The process is standard. Everyone was like that when they went through that phase," he explained, but this was not enough to assure her.

She was dazed and puzzled. "I do not understand…"

"You've been changed into," he bit his lips slightly before continuing, "a vampire."

"Vampire?"

"Come, I have a gift for you," he took out a ceramic cup. "You're too weak to go for hunting. Here is a snack for you."

She held the cup and looked at what was it carrying. Dark red fluids with a malodorous smell, but yet from the first sight, she knew this was what she needed to satiate her thirst, her desire.

"What is this?" She took a sip of the cold fluid and then she realised she could not stop herself but to finish it. She thought, if it was warm, it would have tasted better.

"Blood."


End file.
